High Stakes
by Summer90
Summary: After burning down the gym at his old school, Eames moves to Sunnydale, California to start life anew. But things don't go as he had expected. Inception in the Buffy universe basically. This is a WIP and I really have no idea how far this is going to go
1. Chapter 1

**So, I am in the process of writing this story. I have more chapters posted on AO3 but I will slowly be posting them here as well.**

**Enjoy! And I do not own Inception nor Buffy...**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Eames let out a small sigh as he got out of his mum's car. This was his first day at a new high school.

"Be good sweetie. And have a fantastic first day." Eames gave her a small smile before closing the door. California. His mum had moved them all the way from London to bright and shiny California. He knew she wanted to go for something different, but still. California was so much different from London. It would take a while to get used to.

But in the end, he had no one to blame but himself.

It was his fault they had to move here to begin with. If he hadn't burned down his old high school gym and gotten expelled, he could have still been there.

But what's done is done. All he could do now is hope for the best and let this place be enough for them until he graduates and can go away from all of this.

As he glanced around at the school yard, he noticed that there were quite a bit of people at this school. His old school only had about 400 people in the school. He was sure there had to be more than 1000 people here. He was going to blend in quite nicely. No one would notice a new kid in this school.

In fact, it was quite possible that there are people who have gone here their whole lives and still didn't know everyone.

Eames slowly made his way into the school, dodging every person who nearly ran into him. Seriously, did they have manners in California? One guy shoved him so hard, he almost fell down.

He slowly, but surely, found the office and walked in. The secretary was an older woman, who was on the phone at the moment. But she seemed nice. She looked like the grandma type, the type who treated each student like they were her own.

There were a couple other kids standing there, they looked to be about Eames' age. Eames assumed they were there for a schedule change or something like that. Or maybe they were new like him.

But there was one girl, sitting at a desk away from the others, smiling at him. He gave her a brief smile next before the secretary called him up.

"Can I help you?" Eames looked and saw that her name was Mrs. White. Interesting.

"Um, yes. My name is William Eames. I am new here. I need my schedule and all of that."

"Ah, Mr. Eames. Junior, am I correct?"

"Yes ma'am." She gave him a big smile as she turned to her computer to pull up his schedule. She hummed to herself as she printed everything out.

Eames always knew how to make people love him. It was a talent he learned early so that he could always get his way. It worked on most people, except his mother. She could see through him like glass. But most people were instantly attracted to him, and it didn't have to be in a sexual way. People were drawn to him. He always used to have friends, that was, before high school.

High school changed things.

"Here you go Mr. Eames." Mrs. White handed him a couple pieces of paper. "This is your schedule and locker number. Each hallways is a different number. Yours is in the 400 wing." Eames gave her a small nod. He didn't really understand but he figured he would when he actually went out there. "On the second sheet you will find a list of the textbooks you will need. Go to the library and ask for Mr. Miles. He will help you out."

"Thank you." Eames gave the girl sitting off to the side one last nod before leaving the office. He looked down and saw that his locker was number 491. Shouldn't be too difficult. It was probably at the end of the hallway and away from everyone else. That wouldn't be too bad.

After finding his locker, which was much easier than he thought, he made his way to library.

The library was huge. It was open and round, with books stacked from floor to ceiling. It was amazing. Eames was never much of a reader, but he always found books interesting, especially old books. They were just so different, and held a certain charm to them. They also had character and personality.

But the library seemed to be quite vacant.

"Hello?" He heard movement, but saw no one. He was ready though. Of course, he was always ready. He was always prepared.

"Yes?" Eames looked over and saw an old man walk out of a small office. He was British, like himself, he could tell from the voice. But the man seemed to be a nice old man. He gave off the type of personality like Mrs. White did.

"Um, hi. My name is Eames. I am here to get some school books. I'm new." The man, Eames assumed it was Mr. Miles, just looked at him.

"Right.

"Are you Mr. Miles?" Eames asked, might as well make sure this is the man he wanted before they continued on.

"Yes. Feel free to call me Miles. Everyone else does."

"Alright. Oh." Eames pulled out the second piece of paper and handed him his books list. "These are the books I need." Miles didn't even take the paper.

"I think this book, Mr. Eames, is all that you will need." Miles pulled out and set down a huge old book on the counter. Eames looked down and immediately froze. The title of the book stood out very clearly.

_Vampires & Demons_

Eames took a step back. How did this man know?

"I don't think that is the book for me." Eames took a deep breath and glanced up at Miles. Miles just looked confused.

"I'm sorry. Are you sure?"

"Quite sure." Miles just nodded.

"Alright. Well, your books will be this way." Miles said as he walked off towards the back of the library, taking the paper from Eames as he walked by. Eames slowly followed him back. He wasn't quite sure how to handle this Miles guy. He didn't know if he was an enemy or not. No one was supposed to know that you were the slayer. Only your watcher, and the watchers council.

But no one else.

"You are from London, correct?" Miles asked, as he glanced down at the paper before taking off again. Eames was getting more and more confused by the second. How did he know he was from London? Sure his accent gave him away that he was foreign, but to know the city, that was a bit much.

"Yes. I am."

"Maybe you knew of a friend of mine, Charles Greenly." Eames froze.

Charles.

Charles was his old watcher. He had died during the fire that burned down his old gym. Of course the fire wasn't the cause of his death, but something much more terrifying. Miles was just looking at him now.

"What do you want?"

"I am here to help you. I am your new watcher, Eames."

"No."

"No?"

"I am not the slayer anymore, alright." Eames took a step back. "I gave all that up when I moved here."

"What?" Miles took a step forward. "You can't just give it up."

"Yes I can. My so called 'calling' got Charles killed and it got me expelled. My mother has been through enough already. I am not making her move again."

"You were careless back then. I can help you be more careful with your work. I can make you better."

"You." Eames wanted laugh. How could this old man possibly help him? At least Charles was a bit younger. "How could you possibly help me?"

"You have to trust me."

"Sorry, Miles, you seem like an awesome watcher. But like I said before, I am retired."

"You know very well that you can't just retire from being the slayer." Miles said, walking up so that he was now invading Eames' personal space. "The only way a new slayer is born is when the other one dies. So if you don't want the responsibility, you will have to die first." Eames took a deep breath.

"Is it really that bad that I don't do my job? I mean, there is not an apocalypse happening. The real world is perfectly capable of fixing it. The slayer can't be everyone. People have survived before, they can survive now."

"Eames. You do not understand. This is your responsibility. This is what you were born to do. You can't just decide one day to give it up!"

"But I didn't ask for this!" Eames shouted, taking a step back. "I didn't want this! I want to be able to have a life. To get married, have kids, everything. I want to be able to wake up and not have to worry about the end of the world happening. I am 17 years old! I don't need to be thinking about how to save the world!" Miles just looked at him.

"You are not the first one to have this burden Eames. Hundreds of women have held this position before you."

"Oh, yeah. And let's bring that up. Why am I the first man to do this? Isn't this supposed to be some female empowerment thing or something? Why pick me?"

"I have no say in who is chosen. Maybe they decided to have a change. But everything happens for a reason."

"Well, I want no part in this. Now can I just have my books and go?" Miles gives him a curt nod and Eames knows this is not the last of this conversation. Miles just hands him his books and Eames leaves as quickly as he can.

The rest of the day proves to be pretty uneventful.

Eames tries to make friends and talk to people. He knows his mum will yell at him if doesn't at least try. And he knows that in order to survive here, he has to have friends. If he continues to be a loner, he won't be able to survive high school.

But he didn't have much luck in making any fast friends, that is, until last period. He was in History class, and Eames was not a fan of learning history. He hated history, didn't really see the point of learning things that had already happened.

So he was just doodling in his notebook when a piece of paper hit him in the head. He looked over and saw a girl smiling at him. Eames recognized her as the girl from the office. She pointed down and Eames looked down to see a waded up piece of paper.

Eames slowly picked it up and opened it.

_Dude, your drawing is sick! Names Ariadne, by the way. =)_

Eames smiled down at the note before pulling out a pen and writing below her writing.

_Thanks, but it's not that good. My name is Eames. _

Eames slowly waded the paper back up and tossed it over to her when the teacher wasn't looking. The girl, Ariadne, smiled at him when she opened it.

Just then the bell rang. Eames slowly put his things up and stood up.

"Hey." He looked over and saw Ariadne. She was smiling up at him. She was a cute girl. She was short and looked really nice.

"Hey."

"So, you are new here." Eames laughed.

"What made you say that?" She laughed.

"Well, Eames, I am Ariadne, in case you weren't quite sure how to say it."

"Thank you for telling me. I am sure I could have figured it out eventually." Ariadne let out a small laugh.

"So, how do you like it here so far?" She asked as they walked out of the classroom.

"It's nice. Big. Much bigger than my old school."

"Where did you go to school at before?"

"London."

"Wow. Big change then."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Well Eames, my locker is down here." She pointed to the opposite direction of where Eames' was. The 300 hallway. "I guess I will see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." She gave him one last look before walking down the hallways. Eames just watched her leave before going to his locker.

He had made a friend.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad here.

* * *

The next few days went by a lot smoother. Eames avoided the library like the plague. And if he saw Miles in the hallway, he took a detour to get to his classroom.

Eames was now a master at avoiding Miles. And now he knew most of the hallways around the school. So really, it was a win-win situation.

Eames had also grown closer to Ariadne. She really was a great person and she asked him a lot of questions about London and his life. She seemed like she cared about him. He had forgotten what it was like to have friends that cared about you.

Although, he did lie to her about why he got expelled from his old school, he said it was a prank. He didn't think she would talk to him anymore if he told her he had got expelled for burning down his high school gym because it was full of vampires.

That might not go over too well. So he just left that subject alone. They didn't need to know about that.

But by becoming friends with Ariadne, that brought along Dom and Mal. Ariadne knew Dom because they both loved architecture and planned to go to college for that. They were also childhood friends or something like that. Mal, on the other hand, was dating Dom. She was also the most popular girl at Sunnydale High. Mal was something else. She was nice to him, but he also got the feeling that she could be a complete bitch if she wanted to.

But she was beautiful. And she was French, which Eames found very attractive. He had always wanted to learn French, but he never got around to it. So he just listened to her speak French and complain about class in French. It was quite nice.

Dom was a nice guy. He was smart but a little bit clueless sometimes. But he seemed to really care about everyone and all that. He cared a lot about his work and was willing to do anything to get it done, even if that meant screwing some people over. But Eames had no problem with him.

But it was nice, having friends. Back in London, Eames didn't really have many friends. He did, but when Charles came to him, Eames stopped having a social life. He was focused on killing vampires and saving the world. He didn't have time for friends.

Well, not anymore.

"So, Eames." He looked over to see Mal smiling. "It's Friday, which means we are all going to The Bronze tonight. You in?"

"The Bronze?" Eames asked, confused.

"It's a club." Ariadne added. "But, for everyone. High school kids are allowed in because they don't card unless you go to the bar. But it is amazing. Dancing, live music, food, it is pretty much the perfect place for anyone to hang out. It is the place to be on a Friday night."

"Well, count me in." Eames replied, with a smile. This would be fun.

"Mr. Eames." Eames tensed up. That was Miles. He turned and saw Miles standing behind him.

"Hello daddy." Mal said, sounding quite chipper. What? Miles was Mal's father?

"Hello darling. Mr. Eames. Could I please have a word with you? I think you have an overdue library book." Eames nodded. He couldn't make a scene right now, not in front of everyone.

"Sure." Eames stood up and grabbed his bag. "See you in class guys." They all waved him off as Eames followed Miles back to the library. "What do you want?"

"This." Miles shoved the local paper in his hands. Eames let out a small sigh and looked down.

_Woman found killed in local alley. Strange marks found on her neck similar to the other four bodies found this past week._

Eames looked up at him.

"This could just be a coincidence."

"Eames, Sunnydale is a very particular place. There is a reason you were sent here. Sunnydale happens to lie right on the Hellmouth."

"The Hellmouth? What the hell is that?"

"The portal to hell. Everything weird happens here. And I am here to tell you there are vampires here. And who knows what else."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"How about you do your job?"

"Miles…"

"Look, I don't know how Charles trained you. But you can have a social life and be the slayer. Just, around midnight, go out and patrol. Make sure everything is alright."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"And I have to do this every night, like before."

"Yes."

"I am a high school student, Miles."

"I'm sure you can handle it."

"I will do it tonight. But I am still not 100% into this."

"Alright. Just give it a try." Eames just nodded before grabbing his bag and heading to class.

So much for having a fun night out tonight.

* * *

Eames didn't know how to dress for tonight. What does one actually wear to The Bronze? He had texted Ariadne and asked what to wear. She had merely just laughed at him and told him to wear whatever he wanted. She made it seem like it was no big deal.

So Eames went for comfort. He was going to be patrolling tonight, so he needed to make sure he was able to fight, just in case. So he went with jeans and a regular button up top. He wanted to look somewhat nice.

Before he left, he went through his dresser and found his stash of all his old stakes. He had hid them away when he came here and hoped that he would never have to see them again. Of course things never went his way.

He slipped one of the stakes in his inside pocket of his jacket and made his way to The Bronze.

The Bronze was a very interesting place. It was loud and full of people of all ages. But the music was decent and it seemed that it was indeed, the place to be. It was rather large, much larger than Eames had expected. The outside really didn't do the place justice. It looked like some old factory from the outside, but on the inside, it was quite the place.

Ariadne found him quickly and dragged him over to the table that Dom and Mal were sitting at.

"So, Mr. Eames," Mal said, leaning forward. "Is there some lonely girl you left behind?" Eames let out a small chuckle. "Or a boy?" Leave it to Mal to get right to the so called important questions of life.

It seemed like all this week all the questions had been about him. He barely knew anything about his so called friends. Only a few tidbits here and there.

"Sadly, no. I didn't have much of a social life back then." Eames didn't do relationships. He had developed the everyday crush like every other male and female on the planet, but he was too shy to make anything happen.

And besides, there was always the off chance they could be killed by what he did for a living.

"Oh. Why not?" Dom asked, wrapping an arm around Mal.

"Just, busy." Eames grabbed his drink and glanced around. There were a bunch of guys and girls dancing in front of the band that was playing. There were guys and girls lined up against the wall watching the people who were dancing. He could see people at the bar and a small hallway that led around the back of the bar. He thought he heard Ariadne mention that was where the couples went to hook up. He made a mental note to avoid that area in the near future.

He couldn't see the balcony from here either but he had heard some interesting things about there too.

"Look, is that Robert Fischer?" Eames turned around to see who Ariadne was referring to. There was a boy about their age standing off the side, drink in hand, glancing around. He was very pretty, and dressed up like he was going to a business meeting.

"Who is he?" Eames asked.

"He is the son of the man who owns half the town. He is sort of a loner, doesn't have any friends or anything. He just sort of exists." Eames just nodded along.

He was about to go back to the conversation when he saw a woman approach Robert.

She was beautiful. Tall and curves galore. She was wearing a short shirt and a low cut shirt. She was there with a mission and Eames immediately sensed that something was bad.

As the slayer, you had a sense, it was like a sixth sense to know when vampires were near. And there was definitely one near. That woman was definitely one. And there was the small fact that she resembled the girl that had died last night.

So, when Robert left the club with her, Eames immediately excused himself and went outside. He didn't see anything at first, but there was an alley close by. That was his best bet as to where they went.

Vampires were kind of predictable.

He walked over and saw a form in the shadow.

"Hey." The woman pulled away, her mouth stained with blood. Shit. He was too late.

"She bit me." Robert screamed out. Well, at least he was still alive. That was a plus.

"Why don't you pick on someone who can actually take you?" Eames taunted. The woman turned around fully and glared at him.

"Who are you?" Eames just smirked.

"I'm the one who is going to kill you." She let out a small screech. He turned his attention to Robert. "Run." Robert just nodded and ran away, clutching at his neck. Eames hoped he went straight home and slept all this off and forgot about it.

"You shouldn't interrupt things you don't understand boy." The woman sneered.

"Well, why don't you teach me a lesson then?" She gave out a small growl before lunging at him. Eames easily dodged her the first time around, but she was able to get him the second, knocking him to the ground.

He hadn't trained in a bit so his reflexes were a bit rusty. Luckily this vampire was still rather new. She wouldn't be that hard to destroy. She smirked at him, her face changing into that of her monster form.

Vampires had a special talent. They could make their face look normal and hide their true form.

"Where are your snarky comebacks now?"

"Hey." Eames looked over at the new voice. The vampire did too. He couldn't really make out who it was, but there was definitely someone standing in the shadows. And from the voice, Eames knew it was a man.

Whoever it was, they gave Eames the opportunity to get up and take the upper hand. He pulled out his stake.

"Over here." She turned around and without hesitation, he stabbed her. Right in the heart. He smiled when she turned to dust right before his eyes. He had forgotten how good it felt to kill a vampire, the small rush of adrenaline it sent throughout his veins.

"Impressive." Eames straightened up. He had almost forgotten. Someone else was around. And they had just seen him kill a vampire. He had messed up bad.

"Um, what was?" Eames asked, feigning ignorance. That always helped.

"Your skills." This voice was very confident and suave. Eames didn't like it. "It's not every day that some kid can take down a vampire." Eames snarled at being referred to as a kid.

"Who are you?" The man just laughed before stepping out of the shadow. He was the most beautiful man Eames had ever seen. He was tall and lean, but Eames was sure that there was muscle on that gorgeous body of his. He was pale but it suited him. He was dressed in pants that should be illegal by how well they clung to his body. He was wearing a jacket so Eames couldn't really see what was underneath but he was positive that it was something gorgeous and expensive.

He looked like someone who should not be out in this kind of neighborhood at this time of the night.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is how you were able to kill a vampire."

"It's sort of my job." Eames decided there was no use in trying to hide what had happened. The man obviously knew there were vampires in this town. And he seemed to not be bothered by it.

"Your job?" The man took another step forward. "Are you the slayer?"

"Guilty." Eames replied with a shrug.

"But, the slayer is supposed to be a woman." The man looked down. He seemed really confused by the fact that Eames was a man. "They are always women."

"Sorry to disappoint you." The man cocked his head as a small smile appeared on his face. Well, that was fast.

"I'm not disappointed. In fact, I am quite intrigued at this sudden change." Eames raised an eyebrow.

"Intrigued? Look mister, I have told you who I am, now what about you?"

"I am merely a friend. I am here to help you. Something much bigger is coming to Sunnydale and you are going to need help."

"But I know nothing about you. How do I know that I can trust you?" The man stepped forward so that he right in front of Eames. He was even more gorgeous up close. Eames tried not to stare.

"You can't." The man turned and made his way out of the alley.

"Can't I at least get a name? If I am to ever be in need of your services?"

"Arthur."

"I'm Eames." Arthur turned and smiled.

"I guess I will be seeing a lot more of you then, Mr. Eames." Eames bent down to pick up his stake and when he looked back, Arthur was gone.

Eames let out a small sigh. Of course. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Ariadne, letting her know that he wasn't feeling well and just went home. He still had to patrol and he was really not wanting to.

He walked into the cemetery, glancing around for any fresh graves. He was just tired and wanted to sleep. And maybe dream about the gorgeous Arthur.

He didn't want to deal with vampires. Not right now.

"Eames!" He jumped and turned around. There, running towards him was Mal.

"Mal?" She smiled and stopped in front of him. "What are you doing in a cemetery at this time of night?"

"I could say the same for you." Well, she got him there.

"Um…"

"Look, let's not beat around the bush anymore. I know that you are the slayer."

"What?" Seriously. Why did everyone know who he was? Was it written on his forehead or something?

"My father is watcher. Did you honestly expect me to not know?"

"Well, I…um…"

"Look, my father said that you are still undecided about doing your job. I am here to tell you that you need to do your job. Bad things are about to happen. And we need the slayer."

"Yeah, Arthur mentioned that bad things are about to happen."

"Arthur?"

"He is just…nobody. Listen, I get what you mean. Things here are bad. I guess I can try and balance both killing vampires and school. But I will need to train. I am sort of rusty at the moment."

"I can help you there. My father has all these training supplies in the library. We can start tomorrow."

"But the others…"

"I can tell them. You are going to need all the help you can get." Eames nodded.

"Thanks Mal." She smiled before linking her arm in his.

"No problem. Now, shall we finish patrolling and head home?"

"Lead the way."

* * *

**Thank you guys for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It had been a couple weeks since Eames had moved to Sunnydale and continued being the slayer. And everything was actually going quite well. The death toll had definitely gone down, so that was always good. And Eames was actually happy again. He hadn't been happy in a very long time.

Mal had kept her word on telling the others about Eames' 'job'. She had been the one to break the news to Dom and Ariadne. Dom was confused, to say the least. He was freaked out and upset that Mal had lied to him about all of it. But he figured out that this was something you don't tell everyone. But Eames could tell that Dom still didn't know what to think about everything. It wasn't every day that you found out that there are vampires that have been living in your hometown since forever.

Ariadne reacted completely opposite of Dom. She wanted to go on patrol with Eames and wanted to learn how to kill them. And she was all about the research. She wanted to know everything you could possibly know about vampires. So that was a plus. Eames hated research.

Eames was relieved that they had accepted this so easily. Eames had been in denial when he found out his fate for like a month. It wasn't until he was attacked by one and killed it did he truly accept that it was what he was meant to do.

So the only trouble was with training. His old watcher used to train him in this old abandoned house out in the middle of nowhere. He could keep all the weapons there and no one would suspect anything.

But Miles was a little bit different.

Miles had a whole arsenal in the library. Eames was shocked, to say the least. If someone were to find out about this arsenal, things would not end well. In fact, well, Eames didn't want to think about what would happen if someone were to find out about this.

Miles had weapons that Eames had never seen before.

There was also the small fact that Miles had books about magic that he wanted to bring up as well. But Eames didn't want to bring magic into it. Magic always brought problems with it. But Ariadne was interested in it. Eames wasn't sure how he felt about that, but it was her life.

But Miles was in fact, too old to train him so he got to train with Mal, which didn't really help much. Eames was a tad bit afraid to actually hit her, regardless of what she said. He had improved strength, and if he wasn't careful, he could really hurt her.

So, here they were, just practicing simple defense moves and Mal was getting mad at him.

"Come on Eames, I am not as delicate as you seem to think I am." Eames didn't respond to that. Miles was there with them observing.

"Eames, you need to practice if you want to get better. There are going to be demons that you fight that will try and use their looks and gender to get you to let your guard down."

"But I am stronger than her. And she isn't a demon, she is human. I don't want to hurt her."

"You need to learn to control your strength." Miles sat down. "Continue. Mal, try and attack him from behind." Eames let out deep breath and turned around. He closed his eyes and focused on Mal's footsteps. He could do this. He could use a portion of his strength and not hurt her.

He heard her move and turned around quickly, blocking her attack and shoving her back into the wall. He pulled out his stake from his jacket and placed it right above her heart, pretending to stab her.

"And you would be dead." Mal laughed as she pushed him off.

"Very good. Now why weren't you doing that earlier?" Eames just shrugged as he placed the stake back in the bag he brought in from home.

"I think I'm done with training for today." Eames reached down and grabbed his book bag and the bag of stakes. "I have to get home before mum begins to question why I am staying after school all the time." Mal waved him off as he left the library.

Eames' walk home wasn't very eventful. Then again, it never was. He lived a few blocks away from the school in some boring neighborhood. Sometimes Ariadne would accompany him when she didn't get to borrow her parent's car. Turns out she lived rather close to Eames. Every so often she would come over and they would do their homework together.

Eames was really thankful that he met Ariadne and became fast friends with her. He didn't know what he would be like if he hadn't met her.

But ever since Eames stayed after school to train, his walks were usually alone.

Although some days he wished Arthur would show up. But it seemed that Arthur only showed up when he was patrolling. Arthur probably had a job or something that he did during the day. He didn't have time for Eames. Arthur showed up to annoy Eames usually every other night.

But he normally just stood there (hence why he is becoming annoying), laughing and taunting Eames as he killed that night's vampire. Eames was beginning to get a little frustrated that all Arthur did was just watch him and laugh and be mysterious.

In fact, he hadn't even said anything else about this big bad problem that was coming. He just stood there, said a few critiques of Eames' killing method, and then disappeared into the shadows.

Sometimes Eames wondered if Arthur was just a figment of his imagination.

But that didn't stop Eames from dreaming about Arthur. That was a regular occurrence at nights. And most mornings always started the same way too. Those nights when he patrolled after he had woken up hard, made it quite awkward when Arthur showed up.

Eames figured if Arthur knew what he dreamed about, Arthur wouldn't show up anymore. That Arthur would be disgusted with him and make fun of him. They were still somewhat strangers. It would just be bad if Arthur just stopped showing up. Arthur showing up was the highlight of patrolling, even if Arthur didn't do anything but criticize him.

It was enough just to see Arthur in some wonderful tight fitting suit.

When Eames got home, his mum was already home making supper and it smelt delicious.

"Mum?" He walked into the kitchen right as she pulled whatever she had made out of the oven.

"Eames! I was beginning to wonder if the school had eaten you or something." Eames just laughed at that. He wouldn't be surprised if there was some monster that lived under the school that ate students.

His mum was quite the interesting one. She never questioned when he came home with bruises or if he had been caught sneaking out. She had found one of his stakes one night and actually believed him when he said it was part of an art project. He figured that someday he would tell her the truth. But today was not that day.

"No, just, in the library studying with Mal."

"Mal?" His mom set the dish on the counter. "Is this Mal someone you are interested in? I have heard a lot about her, her and Ariadne."

"No. It's not like that. She is very beautiful, but she is dating someone else. So no. We are just friends, believe me."

"Oh. So, is there anyone that you are interested in? Maybe some sweet boy at school?" Eames looked down and saw that they were having lasagna for dinner. Yum. But he really didn't want to have this conversation with his mother. He never liked talking about crushes and all that. It was just too weird. He knew she didn't judge him on who he liked, she had caught him making out with Kenny, the son of their old neighbor, and Christie, one of his friends' sisters the following summer. His mom really didn't care about gender.

But Eames really didn't think she would be too keen on the idea of him crushing on this mysterious older man that he only saw when he was hunting vampires. She might draw the line there.

"Lasagna looks good mum."

"Nice conversation block." She let out a small chuckle as she cut the lasagna.

"I learn from the best."

"William." She stopped cutting and reached out and grabbed his hand. "I am really happy that you made friends here. I was so worried about you for a bit. Back at home, you were always alone and you seemed very unhappy. I am glad you are happy here. That you are adjusting well."

"Thanks mum."

"Alright, well, let's eat before the food gets cold."

* * *

Eames walked along the skinny rock pathway in the cemetery, the light of the full moon lighting the way. There was one fresh grave today and his name was Michael Anderson or something like that. Miles hadn't been too clear on whether or not it was an actual vampire attack. He just saw the news article and sent Eames on his way.

Eames was really beginning to suspect that there was some vampire virus in the air that they were all exposed to. And once you died, you would automatically come back as a vampire, no matter what.

That idea was almost stupid enough to be believed in. Maybe he would bring it up with Miles tomorrow.

Eames saw the fresh grave and quickly made his way over there. He was tired and really hoped that tonight went by fast. He had a test to study for and he wanted to get some sleep. Hopefully he wouldn't have any embarrassing dreams about Arthur tonight. He really didn't need those images stuck in his head while he was taking a test.

Eames walked over and sat down on the tombstone. He discovered that if he just waited here, he could stake them before they were even all the way out of the ground.

Eames had been there for a few minutes when he heard leaves rustling. He pulled his stake out as he stood up, glancing around to see where the sound was coming from. It was almost midnight so there really shouldn't be anyone else in the cemetery that was alive.

But he didn't see anything. Maybe he had just imagined the noise.

"Hello Eames." Eames jumped up and dropping the stake, before turning around to face none other than Arthur.

"Jesus!" Eames hissed out. "What the hell was that for?"

"What was what for?" Arthur took a step back, a small smiling plaguing his face.

"Sneaking up on me like that? I could have staked you."

"I doubt it. You dropped your stake so I really don't think that would have happened. If I had been someone intent on hurting you, I would have succeeded." Eames just rolled his eyes, the smartass.

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by." Eames didn't believe that for a second.

"Why are you really here? All you do is just sit there and watch me fight. Can you even fight a vampire?"

"I can fight one yes. I just choose not to."

"And what about this big evil thing that is coming? Do you have any more information on that?"

"All in good time, Mr. Eames." Eames just sighed as he bent down to pick up his stake.

"Well, if you are going to come along on my patrols, you might want to think about helping out, otherwise you should just get lost." Eames really didn't mean that, but seriously, he needed to know what Arthur was actually doing here all the time.

Eames felt the ground move. Ah, perfect timing. He slowly walked back to where he was before and got ready. Arthur just stood over by a tree, crossing his arms in amusement.

"Glad you are comfortable over there." Eames shouted. Arthur just laughed. Eames saw the hand appear first, sticking out of the ground as the vampire tried to get a grip on something to help pull him up out of the ground.

After five minutes, the vampire still wasn't out. Sometimes Eames really questions the intelligence of these vampires, especially the ones who couldn't even get out of the ground.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Eames hissed out, standing up. He reached out and pulled the vampire's hand, pulling him out of the ground. The vampire just looked around a bit, dusting off his close.

"Thank you." He said, turning to Eames.

"No problem." Eames kicked him in the stomach, sending him falling backwards over to the tombstone. Eames walked over and kicked him again, but the vampire grabbed him by the leg and pulled him down.

Eames hit his head on the tombstone, which hurt like hell. He was even sure that he saw stars.

"Shit." Eames pulled himself together and tried to grab his stake, which, somehow, was nowhere to be found. What the bloody hell was wrong with him tonight?

He turned around just as the vampire stood up.

"Slayer." He mumbled out. Eames always wondered how they knew who the slayer was. Was it imprinted in them or something? Apparently that was but not how to crawl out of your own grave.

Eames was about to kick the vampire when out of nowhere, a stake flies at him, hitting the vampire straight in the heart. The vampire fell back, turning into dust against the ground.

"How was that, Mr. Eames?" Eames sat up and saw Arthur walking towards him. "Was that good enough for the slayer?" Eames just stared at him, mouth open in shock.

"You did that?"

"Is there anyone else here?" Eames took a deep breath and stood up. Holy shit. Arthur had just thrown a stake and it hit the vampire perfectly. He didn't even look the least bit tired or anything. His suit was still in perfect condition. Eames had never been more attracted to someone than he was at this moment.

"How did you…" Eames stammered. Arthur just laughed.

"I just did it. Goodnight Mr. Eames. Pleasant dreams." Eames just stood there in shock, watching him leave.

He was in deep trouble now.

* * *

Eames slowly made his way to the library. He was tired and hated that Miles made him come to school extra early to discuss patrolling. On any other day he wouldn't have cared, but today was just torture.

He had tried to sleep last night. He tried. He had stayed up late studying and when he did go to sleep, it was pointless. He kept thinking about Arthur and his other skills he probably had and it kept him up all night and now he was tired and he was going to fail his test today. He just knew it.

And it was all because Arthur could throw a stupid stake.

He threw his bag on the ground and slumped down in the chair. Mal, Dom and Ariadne were already there. Of course they were.

"Ah, Eames, nice of you to finally join us." Miles walked in and threw a book on the table, causing Eames to jump.

"Sorry, couldn't sleep last night." Eames yawned, looking at the book.

_Beasts_

Well, this was going to be an interesting talk.

"How was patrolling last night? Anything to report?"

"It was normal, except I didn't kill anything."

"What?"

"Nope. Arthur did. Saved my ass, tell you what."

"Arthur?" Dom asked, looking confused. He still didn't have a grip on all this. He accepted it all, but yeah, still confusing to him. Eames forgot that he hadn't really told the others about Arthur.

"Oh, he is this man that sort of pops up when I patrol. I really didn't know any of his motives, but I thought he was good because he told me evil was coming. But he is a mad shot. Killed a vampire for me on the first try. Seriously Miles, his skills are amazing."

"Has he told you anything else about this evil?" Miles stalked forward, completely ignoring everything else Eames had said. Good old Miles, always focusing on the evil part of things.

"No. I tried to ask him, but he didn't say anything."

"Try and get information out of him. We need all the help we can get on this."

"So," Eames asked, sitting up straight. "Why did you throw this beast book on the table? Is there something I should know?"

"There was an attack last night. A woman. She had cuts all over her body."

"Bite marks?"

"No. It looked like an animal attack."

"Animal attack?" Eames looked a bit confused. Beasts were not in the job description. "So you think she could have been attacked by something supernatural?"

"There are many things in this world, Eames. I want you to investigate this. The probability that it was something supernatural is very high."

"Miles…" Eames groaned. "What if she got attacked by a dog or something?"

"Well, then you will find that out." Eames groaned again, hitting his head against the table. The others just chuckled at his misfortune. They could laugh because they didn't have to go out every night. How was this his life?

* * *

Eames failed his test. He was definitely certain about that one. Out of the hundred questions on the test, he was sure he knew like five of them. Sometimes he really just hated his life.

He was too busy sulking that he didn't even look to see where he was going and ran right into someone. He heard the books drop and felt like a complete asshole. Today was seriously not going to be hid day.

"Oh, I'm sorry mate." He bent down to help the man pick up the books he had dropped.

"It's alright." Eames straightened up at the accent. He looked up and examined the boy. He had never seen him before. Maybe he was new, like him. Then again, he could have gone here his whole life and Eames wouldn't know. He had only been here a few weeks.

"I'm Eames, by the way."

"Yusuf." Eames smiled as he stood up, handing Yusuf his books. Most of them were Chemistry or Biology books, but one of them was about moon cycles.

"Moon cycles?"

"Oh, yeah. Interesting thing the moon, isn't it?" Yusuf seemed a bit nervous as he quickly grabbed the book away from Eames.

"Yeah, brings out the crazy in all of us, am I right?" Yusuf gave a nervous chuckle before backing away.

"Yeah, well, I have to go. Nice meeting you Eames."

"Bye…Yusuf." Eames said to himself because Yusuf was halfway down the hallway by then.

* * *

Eames walked along the alley way where the woman was found attacked. Miles never really said if she died or not, Eames just assumed she did. He really didn't think there was anything supernatural about this attack. Animals attack all the time. Miles was just grasping at straws right now, especially since he didn't know much on this big evil that was coming.

"Looking for something?" Eames rolled his eyes. Of course he would be here.

"Arthur." He turned around and smiled. "What a pleasure it is seeing you again so soon. Two days in a row, that is a record." Arthur just smiled and walked forward. He was wearing a wonderfully tailored pinstriped suit today, looking like he just walked out of the 1930s.

"What are you doing here? This is a bit far from the cemetery, don't you think?"

"Miles sent me here to try and figure out what killed this woman. She was attacked by an animal."

"An animal?" Arthur looked at him, with concern.

"Yeah. I think it is complete nonsense…"

"A werewolf."

"A what?"

"A werewolf. You know, full moon, big beast, usually attacks women. They have made a million movies about them."

"Werewolves don't exist." Arthur just raised an eyebrow. Right. That sounded very stupid coming from Eames. "Alright. But, how can you be sure?"

"Last night was a full moon. It all makes sense."

"Oh. Right." He had forgotten about that. Why hadn't Miles made that connection?

"She was attacked last night, was she not?" Arthur was just staring at him and lord almighty he looked fabulous. Eames really needed to get a hold of himself. This obsession with Arthur was getting a tad bit out of hand.

"Yeah, she was. Well, then I guess I will report to Miles tomorrow and we won't have to worry about it till the next full moon which will be next month." Eames gave Arthur a little nod before walking passed him.

"Eames." Eames froze when Arthur grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around. "Is something wrong? You seem a bit off." Arthur actually looked concerned for him and Eames was just really trying not to think about Arthur's hand on him.

"I'm fine. Just, lack of sleep and all that."

"Dreaming of me, were you?" Arthur smirked and Eames was so terrified that his obsession was obvious, but Arthur just laughed. "Go get some sleep Eames. I will patrol for you tonight." Arthur let go of Eames' arm and he really wished he didn't. He wanted it back now.

"You don't have to…"

"Go." Eames didn't have to be told twice. He gave Arthur one last look before heading home.

* * *

"Werewolf?" Dom's eyes were as big as the moon. "Are you being serious?"

"That's what Arthur suggested." Eames said, scanning through a book on werewolves that Miles happened to have lying about. "And it does make some sense, if you really think about it."

"And so we are just going to believe this Arthur person? Whom none of us know? He could be the werewolf!"

"Dom, honey, calm down." Mal whispered as she ran a hand over his leg, trying to make him relax..

"Maybe we can find some sort of spell that will find out who it is." Ariadne suggested.

"Spell?" Eames closed the book. "Ariadne, none of us can do magic."

"Well we can try. Anyone can really do magic, as long as they have the right ingredients. I have been reading books about it. It really doesn't seem all that complicated."

"Or we can just wait for the next full moon, how about that?" Eames had read about what magic did to some people. He did not need that happening to Ariadne. She was so innocent and did not need to evil of magic bringing her down.

"The werewolf attacks didn't start till just now, right? So the person has to be new here." Ariadne suggested, giving Eames a small glare for shooting down her magic idea.

"Oh." Mal scooted forward in her chair, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. "We can go into the records and find out all the new students. We had a least twenty this year."

"Twenty?" Eames was shocked. At his old school they were lucky if they got one new student per year.

"I can get a list from Mrs. White." Miles stated as he set down another book in front of Eames. "Try this one. We need to see if there are any physical features that we can be on the lookout for as well. It would most certainly help narrow down our searches."

"If not, we will just have to wait till the next full moon, right?" Dom seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"Why werewolves?" Eames said as he opened the new book. "We have this big evil coming and now werewolves and vampires. I swear this is a horror movie in the making."

* * *

That night, patrolling was very uneventful.

Arthur didn't show up.

Eames kept telling himself that he wasn't disappointed and that he wasn't upset, but if he was being honest with himself, he was. He had grown so accustomed to Arthur being there that when he wasn't; Eames was actually upset that he wasn't there.

Maybe he had a date or something. Arthur was sure to have a social life. He probably even had a girlfriend, or even a boyfriend. Arthur was a very attractive man; he could probably have someone new in his bed every night if he wanted to.

Why would he want someone like him, a kid?

Eames really had to get over this stupid schoolboy crush he had. It was pathetic and pointless. Arthur could really help him with this so called big evil that was coming. He didn't want to ruin all that because he had a crush on him.

Eames had to get over Arthur. He just had to.

And what better way to do that than to date someone else.

It would be the perfect distraction from Arthur. He could find a really nice girl (girl because he wanted it to be the complete opposite of Arthur) who wouldn't question what he did at night. He really just needed someone to take his mind off of Arthur until he got his crush under control.

It would be perfect. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading! I really appreciate it. :)**


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